A $26,000 contribution to the initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California appears to have cost a 96-year-old former Mormon temple president his seat on the board that oversees Oakland's historic Paramount Theatre.

Amid rising criticism from the gay community, Mayor Ron Dellums said Tuesday that he was putting on hold the reappointment of Lorenzo Hoopes, most likely signaling an end to Hoopes' 30-plus years on the Paramount board.

"The community is asking us to reconsider, and that is what we are going to do," mayoral spokesman Paul Rosesaid.

Hoopes, a past president of the Mormon temple in Oakland as well as a former Safeway executive, has been on the Paramount board since before the downtown theater was restored in the early 1970s.

Even if Dellums had gone forward with Hoopes' renomination, there was little chance the City Council would have approved it, council President JaneBrunner said.

"A lot of us don't think that he represents our thinking in Oakland," Brunner said.

Maybe, but from what we hear, some council members were nervous about even having to vote on the matter and were happy to see the mayor take them off the hook.

Mormon church members contributed an estimated $20 million to the Proposition 8 campaign. Hoopes, who supports civil unions for gays but not marriage, said his support for the 2008 initiative - and the contribution he made - was a personal matter.

"I don't know if it's fair or unfair," Hoopes said of his imminent bouncing from the Paramount board. "I happen to think that they are wrong, but that's just my opinion."

Charity begins at home: Even before Mark Buell was sworn in as the newest member of San Francisco's Recreation and Park Commission, Mayor Gavin Newsom was moving the Democratic mega-donor to the head of the class.

Newsom has asked commissioners to break with protocol and vote in rookie Buell, who was sworn in Tuesday, as the panel's new president Thursday.

Newsom said he wanted someone with the philanthropic experience to help with the cash-strapped parks.

By the way, Buell and his wife, retired Esprit clothing co-founder Susie Tompkins Buell, are also among the biggest donors to Democratic candidates in California. Among those they have helped is Newsom, whose recent gubernatorial bid received $25,900 from Tompkins Buell.

If that's not philanthropy, what is?

Teacher's pet: The magazine Education Week just released its annual report on school spending, and once again California is at the bottom of the nation in per-pupil spending - even though its teachers' pay ranks among the top in the nation.

At $8,164 a year per student, California's spending was 46th in 2007 when adjusted for regional cost differences.

On the other hand, California teachers - whose median salaries in 2008 were $61,103 a year - were third-best-paid in the nation, behind Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.

Wyoming spends the most per student in region-adjusted totals, $16,386 - but its median teacher salary is $50,919.

For the past couple of years, local labor bosses have been in a boil over Gov. ArnoldSchwarzenegger's appearances at the fest. So this year, they held their own breakfast at the shipping clerks union headquarters next to AT&T Park.

Although the labor event lacked the star power of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the featured guest at the King Day breakfast, no one seemed to care.

"In fact, we had no politicians speak at all," said sign painters union leader Mike Hardeman. "Which is maybe why we had such a good time."